Description: Student protests in Serbia have intensified with numerous other cities apart from Belgrade and Novi Sad, emerging as novel flashpoints for the civil resistance. Police forces across the country were reportedly escalating repressive measures, conducting massive arrests and violently threating the protesters. The student movement has significantly enlarged in the past eight months with several other groups of citizens such as teachers, journalists and agricultural workers joining in larger numbers. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has so far resisted the demands for snap elections stating that elections in Serbia would be held late in 2026 or early in 2027. The protests are expected to expand over the summer with many people working in foreign countries returning to their hometowns.
Impact: Serbia’s political crisis is moving towards larger dimensions of anti – government civil movement with the protests enlarging in numbers and locations. The intensification of repressive measures would only escalate the civil upheaval in the country and further aggravate the anti – government public narrative. Vucic’s reluctance to call for snap elections would significantly debilitate his chances in the upcoming 2026 / 2027 elections while risking the exacerbation of public safety and the enlargement of the civil upheaval across the country. The protests would continue threatening the security situation in the country while the public anti – establishment sentiments rise by the day, fueling the prolongation of the political crisis in the country.